Where Did Hinduism Come From

According to historical evidence and ancient literature, Hinduism was the brainchild of sages, who decided to unite different cult in the ancient times. It is claims that thousands of years ago, there was a mass migration. These people wanted to settle next to rivers, so that they could farm and have water for drinking and other purposes. In those times, India was the destination of choice because of the huge rivers the region had.

When the tribes migrated to India, they brought their own gods and goddesses. As a result, the region became polytheistic. So, the Seven Sages, known as Saptarshis, took it upon themselves to stem this polytheism. In order to achieve this, they made use of the Vedas. Every time a new tribe migrated to the region and they wanted their god to be labeled as a Hindu god, they needed to meet with the Seven Sages and claim publicly that their god was an avatar of the gods mentioned in the Vedas. Using this method, the Seven Sages brought the different tribal gods under one umbrella that we now know as Hinduism.

This integration was not forced upon the tribes, but majority of them accepted this in order to ensure that their gods would not be treated as pagan gods. However, the tribe that did not proclaim their god to be a manifestation of the godsin the Vedas was not allowed to participate in the cultural practices and other religious activities that were part of the Vedic gods and goddesses.

Another theory claims that the Arabs coming to the River Sindhu ended up calling the people Hindus, which was a type of bastardization of the river’s name and the religion they practiced was known as Hinduism. It is claimed that Hinduism has been around for so many thousands of years that it is difficult to actually find out how Hinduism started or from where it has come. Many people tend to believe this theory, as it is logical and makes a lot of sense. Also, Hinduism is not considered as a religion. Rather it is viewed as a way of life.

Regardless of how Hinduism came about, the mysticism surrounding the religion still exists. That is why it still manages to attract people from all over the globe. It is not unheard of people coming to India to get an answer to life and trying to find out the meaning of life. This is one of the religions, perhaps, that can guide and provide answers that people are looking for.

Hinduism is referred to as Santana Dharma or the eternal spiritual path. It began in India, around four thousand years ago. Aryans, which means noble people, believed in this religion, philosophy and customs. All these have been recorded as sacred texts called the Vedas. The texts were handed over to disciples as a word of mouth in the beginning. They were written down much later by sages. According to archaeological evidence, Hinduism is the oldest living religion in the world today. The Indus Valley Civilization that flourished in Northwestern India helped to establish the religion. More..